1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a test piece magazine, a magazine holder, and a test piece attachment apparatus. Particularly, the present invention relates to a test piece magazine that stores a plurality of specimen component test pieces, a magazine holder that exchangeably holds a test piece magazine, and a test piece attachment apparatus operable to send and attach a specimen component test piece to a portable specimen analyzer that has a distal end portion configured into a test piece holding portion capable of holding a specimen component test piece.
2. Description of the Related Art
Coloring agent test pieces are conventionally used to simply analyze various components contained in human and/or animal body fluids (blood, sweat, urine, etc), or components contained in a variety of water sources (drinking water, contaminated water, etc). Litmus paper, as a representative coloring agent test piece, may have a sticklike (paper board) base and a test patch attached on one end of the base. When a user pours a liquid-state specimen on the test patch, a reagent contained in the test patch changes color. Thus, a user can analyze a component contained in the specimen based on the color change.
For example, as a method for checking a blood sugar value using a non-invasive blood vessel, a urine component test piece can be used to measure a urine sugar value. The urine component test piece also has a sticklike (paper board) base with a test patch attached on one end thereof. When the test patch is exposed to urine, a reagent in the test patch changes color according to the sugar (glucose) content in the urine. In general, a relationship between the tone of coloring and a urine sugar value can be defined using a standard color tone table which determines a color tone mark, such as −, ±, (+), +, ++, +++, according to the tone of coloring. For example, if the color tone mark is ±, the urine sugar value is at a level of 50 mg/deciliter. As described above, the urine component test piece is suitable for simple measurement of a urine sugar value and enables a user to check their own blood sugar value.
However, the reaction of a specimen component test piece (i.e., a coloring agent test piece) is a chemical reaction which is significantly effected by elapsed time and color tone conditions of a specimen (urine, drainage, etc). Hence, as discussed in Japanese Patent No. 3,738,357, the applicant of this invention has proposed a portable specimen analyzer including a specimen gathering bath, a specimen detector, a timer that measures elapsed time in the specimen detection, and a sensing portion that detects a change of color.
Furthermore, if an optical sensor is used to detect a reaction of a specimen component test piece, external light may have an adverse effect on the measurement results. Hence, as discussed in Japanese Patent No. 3,684,458, the applicant of this invention has proposed a coloring agent test piece possessing light-shielding properties, according to which at least one surface of a sticklike base is a black surface and a test patch is attached on this base.
According to the above-described portable specimen analyzer discussed in Japanese Patent No. 3,738,357, the specimen gathering bath enables a specimen component test piece to reliably absorb a liquid-state specimen and the timer can perform a time management of a coloring reaction. Thus, the analysis can obtain a reproducible result. Furthermore, the sensing portion can objectively determine a specimen component without relying on a user's individual judgment. Moreover, the coloring agent test piece discussed in Japanese Patent No. 3,684,458, i.e., a specimen characteristic test piece, can suppress or eliminate adverse effects of external light.
In view of usability, the portable specimen analyzer discussed in Japanese Patent No. 3,738,357 can be further improved to enable a user to easily attach a specimen characteristic test piece to the analyzer. Furthermore, in view of performance, it is preferable that a specimen component test piece having light-shielding properties (i.e., the test piece discussed in Japanese Patent No. 3,684,458) can be easily attached.